For Mia, a crowded subway ride changes her entire life. Retreating to the wilderness helps her cope with a world that is suddenly too loud, too turbulent. Her existence safely contained to the small cottage on the lake, she is unprepared for the neighbor that moves across the bay

A career-ending injury has Jared permanently benched. His reputation as The Enforcer won’t survive the unanticipated responsibilities awaiting him. Away from the public eye, he adjust to his new reality, under the quiet observation of the intriguing hermit on the other side of the water.

Product description

Product Description

What impact would it have when everything suddenly faded to black?

For Mia, a crowded subway ride changes her entire life. Retreating to the wilderness helps her cope with a world that is suddenly too loud, too turbulent. Her existence safely contained to the small cottage on the lake, she is unprepared for the neighbor that moves across the bay

A career-ending injury has Jared permanently benched. His reputation as The Enforcer won’t survive the unanticipated responsibilities awaiting him. Away from the public eye, he adjust to his new reality, under the quiet observation of the intriguing hermit on the other side of the water.

Top customer reviews

Mia has become an agrophobic recluse losing her career, life & husband to a certain event. Jared career has been sidelined due to injury & becomes her neighbour across the lake. Her first impressions of him aren't favourable due to his manwhoring ways. However due to an event, involving his sister & her former occupation, they connect.

This was a very heartwarming journey you travel on with these two. The characters are around their 40's & have a maturity & life skills about them. I found it quite touching & a times an emotional read.

Freya's books are so real! They are about real people, real every day life problems and how people deal with them. I love that the characters are a little older than 20 something. This book takes place in a gorgeous setting, makes me want to move there. It has all the things that make up a fantastic story, family, bonds, scruffy dog, love, sexy hotness, terrific character development and a great epilogue. Definitely worth putting this on your bookshelf!

What's not to like of the book world? Seriously? If you know a thing tell me because I'm more and more in love with this.The chance to meet new authors, the chance to ride though this perfect world of words is amazing so I can't stop...Freya Barker is a new author to me and let's just say that I've become a stalker!! Lol, in a good way of course.If you had the chance to read any of her books you know why I'm saying this.Her writting is simple, intense and super real. She focuses on real people, real situations with a little hot stuff into the mix.A Change in Tide explores the lifes of Mia and Jared.Mia is a broken girl that decided to hide herself away from everyone and everything, because this way she can try to forget what happened to her. Can she overcome her demons? Can she be happy again?Jared was the hockey star for his team. He was the one that every kid wanted to become. Unfortunately his career ended so soon due to an injury that he sustained during a game. What better way to start over than to move to a new town and to rethink the purpose of his life.And one day they meet and... Wanna know more? Read it please because I hate spoilers. LolCan two broken souls heal each other? Can they survive this cruel world?This book is something else I tell you. The way the characters interact with each other is so pure, so intense that will leave you speechless.I was hooked from the beginning and I couldn't put it down and I didn't want to stop reading.The thing that made me fell in love with this story was the fact that this could happen to us. It's a real story of real people and that is a huge thing for me. I loved it so much from the tears till the laughs.And girls... We have some pretty good hot stuff into the mix. Just dayum...I'm in love with all characters including Jordy, Jared's sister and I really want her to have her own story. Will we have it Freya? Please say yes!!

You can’t do that to a kid who’s got more wrinkles than an elephant’s scrotum.

A change in tide… When you get caught in a rip current or strong tide, the best way to prevent getting pulled under is to ride it out. You can struggle against it, but you’ll only exhaust yourself, and eventually drown. Just ride it out, Mia, pace yourself, but ride it out. It may get bumpy, but there is always, always calmer water on the other side.

Life is messy, and unless you want to live alone on an island, completely cut off from the world, the mess will find you.

So you should know by now that life has no track. It just bounces you around. But if you want to enjoy the good stuff, you have to take the bumps that come along with it. You can’t control it—that’s an illusion— because the moment you’re in control, you’re no longer living— you’re merely existing.

My Review:

I have delighted in every well-crafted book I have read from Freya Barker, she is definitely a treasure. Her latest book, A Change In Tide, was a thoughtful, entertaining, and observant read. Her books are not the type I can read in one setting, as her work is far too observant, poignant, emotionally rousing, and thought-provoking. I am more inclined to savor, take pleasure, and absorb her craft at a more leisurely and indulgent manner than I do most novels. The quality of her skill and the allure of her characters certainly merit the time and attention, although reading her entertaining and engaging stories is definitely not a chore. I enjoy her humor and steam but also the real-life problems, older characters, realistic flaws, and the well-researched challenges, exchanges, and encounters her stories involve. Sigh, I just adore Freya Barker.

It's not a surprise that I love the books that Freya Barker writes and A Change in Tide is no exception. However, this book seems a bit different from many of her other works. In my opinion it feels like a more personal, intimate story. It might be that this is the first book set in the author's homeland, Canada, rather than the United States or maybe the use of Canadian spellings. Whatever the difference is, I am a big fan. I had a difficult time putting the book away because Jared and Mia's story is so compelling.Both Mia and Jared had their life turned upside down by the same event. However, each of them handled their loss in different ways. For Jared, he threw himself into his career, while Mia lost hers and so much more. At first glance, Jared and Mia's relationship should not work. One is reclusive and the other used to being in the spotlight. Yet, when they share the losses they have endured, their simmering chemistry shifts into high gear.At first Jared appears to be an ass, yet Mia can't seem to keep her eyes off of her new neighbor. Once Jared takes on an unanticipated responsibility, he settles and leaves his playboy ways behind and is intrigued by his neighbor across the bay. After losing his career, Jared seeks to be out of the limelight, which is exactly where he finds Mia, whom he tries to draw back into society. Unexpectedly thrown together, their attraction becomes magnetic, although they fight their feelings.I love that Jared knows, most of the time, how to prod Mia gently out of her comfort zone. But like all men, he often puts his foot in his mouth, a fact that his sister enjoys pointing out. Mia struggles with the feelings she develops for Jared, and has to often step back and regroup to handle the things that overwhelm her.I refuse to give spoilers but I will say that this story is beautifully written and tackles some tough issues for the characters. Love and loss often go hand in hand, but in this book Ms. Barker uses love to heal the losses of the past and create an unexpected relationship and HEA. There are intriguing plot twists and some very personal, true to life events and relationships, even beyond Jared and Mia. Jared might not always be perfect, but he's flawed just enough to endear him into the readers heart for a long time to come.

My first impression of Jared is that he’s a jerk. And not just because Mia gets an eyeful of his rear while he’s having sex with some woman on his dock in full view of everyone. Later impressions certainly aren’t any better. It just goes to show you, you probably shouldn’t jump to conclusions and make hasty judgments, because, honestly he was a great guy. He’s had some huge and unexpected changes in his life that he’s still learning to deal with. He’s injured and can no longer play hockey professionally. And he has just recently become the safe haven for his pregnant sister. He’s dealing with some stuff… I find I can forgive him a few bad decisions.

Mia’s life is definitely not roses and rainbows. There’s a reason she’s secluded herself out in the middle of nowhere and the last thing she wants to do is deal with the new resident playboy. Her frequent panic attacks and semi-agoraphobia make it tough for her to want anything to do with anyone so I wasn’t sure how Barker was going to connect her to Jared. I shouldn’t have worried, she set it up perfectly. It was cool to see that what Jared and his sister needed from Mia was exactly what Mia needed to give them to feel like her life still had some meaning and gave her some fulfillment in a way.

What I liked the most about this book was that Mia’s and Jared’s problems weren’t magically fixed by them finding each other. Their issues can’t be fixed. They can be worked on. They can learn to deal with the aftereffects of doubt and anxiety. They can work on helping each other cope. But they don’t actually fix them. It was an HEA without oversimplification or unrealistic expectations. And I appreciated that.

Some books take a few chapters to hold you in place. A Change In Tide is not one of those. No, this books sweeps you away from the very first chapter and just doesn’t let you go. This book evoked so much feels and I’m still reeling. Simply, if I could give this book more than 5 stars, I would give more.

As first impressions go, Jared sure knows how to make one. And Mia’s not happy. He’s an intrusion in the safe world she’s created. Yet, her neighbor intrigues, fascinates,and scares her all at the same time. When Jared sees Mia for who she really is, he realizes he wants to be the one to open her back up. She is just more than she knows and she easily shocks the hell out of him because she is what is missing in his life: a home and a deep love like he’s never experienced before besides the one of his career.

My heart went out to both Mia and Jared in different parts of the book. But mostly, I related with Mia. I didn’t have the extent of her illness but I understood it and could feel the stress and doubts that plagued her. Her courage though and her spirit is undeniable and totally admirable. I could clearly see why Jared became enamored with Mia. Jared was… SWOON! How he knew what Mia needed at the right time and his patience, all i can say I fell head over heels and totally claim him as MINE! He makes one hell of a book boyfriend. The beauty of their love story brought the tears but their HEA brought a catharsis that can only be described as beautiful.